Chapter 82
Chapter 82
It was only the second day, yet the alliances among the players had already been completely reshuffled. Whatever Zhao Peng, Sun Yao, Xu Chao, Yu Lingling, and Tongyu might privately think of one another, they were clearly forming a group.
Meanwhile, Zhou Ming was the only person left at Wang Hao’s side whom he could truly trust. Although Wu Bin and Li Na had sided with him this time, Sun Jian’s remark and the pigeon had planted a thorn between Wang Hao and Li Na.
Sun Jian stood alone off to one side. The goat he had kept with him ever since stealing it from Chen Xue had been killed by Wang Hao’s and Zhou Ming’s animals working together, while Sun Jian had killed the black bear.
Liu Qian’s corpse lay on the ground. Her blood had stained not only the pigeon red, but the stage as well.
When Ah Bu stepped onto the stage, she walked straight through the blood. The long hem of her dress turned an even deeper scarlet as it swept over the stains.
“Tonight’s performance is over. Esteemed guests, please cast your flowers for your favorite beast tamers.”
Ah Bu drew out the words “beast tamers” with almost sensual tenderness.
To the players, however, they sounded indescribably mocking.
Sun Jian and Xu Chao received the most flowers that night, followed closely by Wang Hao and Zhou Ming. Even Tongyu received a few. After all, even the monsters could tell that Tongyu had been the one to take control of Xu Chao.
Still, compared with subtle performances like Tongyu’s, they clearly preferred something more thrilling.
In other words, every player gained something except Yu Lingling, who had not made a move from beginning to end.
The moment Wang Hao realized the flowers could be exchanged for lamp oil, he understood just how important lamp oil was inside the tents. He immediately traded some of his flowers for it.
After tallying the results, Ah Bu turned to Yu Lingling, who had not received a single flower.
“Now, those who didn’t work hard must be punished.”
Yu Lingling had expected this. Wang Hao and the others, however, had not expected her to keep her word. With all the flowers Tongyu’s group had collected, each of them only needed to give her a few for her to escape punishment.
Li Na’s black bear had been killed early on, and she had spent the rest of the fight being thoroughly suppressed. She had received the fewest flowers after Yu Lingling. She could not help feeling relieved, but at the same time, she suspected Yu Lingling had some other motive for doing this.
The monsters in the audience did not leave immediately. Every one of them stared at Yu Lingling.
For the first time that night, all eyes were on her.
Yet there was none of the fear on Yu Lingling’s face that either the monstrous spectators or the audience in the Livestream Room had expected. With the kitten cradled in one arm, she pinched an imaginary skirt with her other hand and imitated Ah Bu from the first day, dipping into a shallow curtsy.
Those who knew what was happening understood that Yu Lingling was about to be punished. Anyone who didn’t might have thought she was on her way to be crowned.
The monstrous spectators immediately began voicing their displeasure. They wanted to see an outsider facing punishment break down in tears, not openly defy them like this.
When some of them stormed out in fury, Ah Bu smiled and said, “We welcome you all back tomorrow. After all, tomorrow will be the third day.”
At those words, many of the spectators looked as if they were eagerly awaiting a good show. Although the ending had not been entirely satisfying, they had enjoyed tonight’s performance well enough. Tomorrow, they would never cast their flowers for this outsider who dared provoke them.
They wanted to watch her suffer a fate worse than death!
Tongyu and the others were still escorted away by the dwarf, while Yu Lingling remained behind.
Ah Bu stood beside Yu Lingling, her eyes brimming with malice and greed.
This was the first time Tongyu had been separated from Yu Lingling since entering the instance. He could not help turning back as if to look at her, though unfortunately, he could not see a thing.
Zhao Peng stood beside Tongyu, while Sun Yao silently guarded his other side.
Xu Chao walked behind Tongyu, his gaze far from friendly.
Sun Jian seemed completely detached from the other players. Just as abruptly as he had attacked Li Na, he suddenly assaulted the dwarf.
He did not kill the dwarf. Instead, he reached out and snuffed out the oil lamp in the dwarf’s hand.
The dwarf let out a terrified shriek.
In the darkness, Sun Jian snatched away the oil lamp and sprinted deeper into the shadows.
Unknown entities lurking in the darkness began attacking Wang Hao and the others. Thanks to Yu Lingling’s earlier warning, Zhao Peng, Sun Yao, and the rest didn’t panic. Instead, they focused on protecting their animals.
Zhao Peng grabbed Tongyu and ran toward the tents.
Tongyu was actually the calmest of them all. Long accustomed to darkness, he grabbed Zhao Peng in return. “Wrong way.”
Zhao Peng froze. The unknown creatures in the darkness were still attacking them relentlessly, but they seemed far more intent on killing the animals beside the players than the players themselves.
Sun Yao pulled out a torch item and lit it, only for it to go out in an instant. Worse still, the brief flare exposed her position, drawing even more of the unknown monsters toward her.
Pony let out an anxious cry.
Tongyu’s voice remained calm. “Follow me.”
Zhao Peng agreed without hesitation. Sun Yao paused, feeling that Tongyu was running in the opposite direction from the tents. But when she saw Zhao Peng’s choice, she scooped up Pony and followed them.
Xu Chao saw what Zhao Peng’s group was doing, but he couldn’t bring himself to trust the judgment of someone blind. Besides, Wang Hao and the others had changed their lamp oil. If Sun Jian had taken all the lamp oil out of the tents as well…
By the time Xu Chao finished weighing his options, he had already lost track of Zhao Peng’s group in the darkness. With no other choice, he could only stick close to Wang Hao and the others.
Ah Bu and Yu Lingling both saw the chaos outside, but neither of them moved.
Ah Bu also held an oil lamp, one that looked far more exquisite than the others. After lighting it, she said, “Follow me.”
Yu Lingling glanced at the oil lamp made of bone and fell into step beside Ah Bu.
Every outsider who had faced punishment before this had either tried to escape or avoid it somehow. This was the first time Ah Bu had met someone as calm as Yu Lingling.
When they reached the Red Tent, Ah Bu stopped. “You don’t have much time left.”
Yu Lingling nodded. “All right.”
Ah Bu didn’t know why, but talking to Yu Lingling always left her strangely frustrated. “Do you really think a handful of weak Ghost Infant entities will be enough to get you safely through tonight? Or are you counting on that slightly stronger Ghost Doll in your shadow?”
In other words, Ah Bu already knew exactly what Yu Lingling had at her disposal.
By the light of the oil lamp, Yu Lingling met Ah Bu’s gaze. “You’re worried about me.”
Ah Bu found that ridiculous. Holding the lamp in one hand, she reached for Yu Lingling’s face with the other. “Worried about you? I want to make sure you stay here for good.”
“Don’t be in such a hurry.” Yu Lingling’s eyes curved in a smile as the dagger in her hand pressed against Ah Bu’s fingers, stopping her from touching her face. “I’ll take you out with me.”
Yu Lingling put away her dagger and walked toward the Red Tent. She opened its door, not forgetting to add politely, “See you later.”
See you later?
Ah Bu wondered if she had misheard. Shouldn’t it at least have been “See you tomorrow”?
What the hell was “see you later” supposed to mean?
As Ah Bu watched, the door vanished the moment Yu Lingling stepped inside, leaving the entire Red Tent a single seamless whole.
Under the oil lamp’s glow, the Red Tent looked even more like a stomach.
The moment Yu Lingling entered, she caught the stale smell of a place that hadn’t been aired out in ages.
The interior was pitch-black, without an oil lamp in sight. Yu Lingling took out a flashlight, but after switching it on, its beam illuminated only a tiny patch around her.
She felt the ground beneath her feet begin to soften and took out an item she’d obtained from a previous instance.
It was the Overused Faded Back Scratcher, an item that could be used only once per instance.
During the Happy Family instance, she had already confirmed that it worked not only on players, but on monsters as well. Since this tent was alive, then…
Yu Lingling toyed with the Back Scratcher in her hand and asked in a pleasant voice, “Would you like to experience what it feels like to be alive?”
There was no response, but Yu Lingling didn’t mind. She simply tossed the Overused Faded Back Scratcher onto the ground. “For your first taste of being alive, let’s start with some music. There’s a song called ‘Itch,’ you know!”